


I'm falling (so I'm taking my time)

by Atalto



Series: Its a long way down (and I don't know if they'll find me at the bottom) [2]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), Voltron Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Crossover, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Shiro-centric, Sunfire - Freeform, Violence, eventually, mostly - Freeform, my boys deserve happiness, rarepair, too bad I'm not gonna give it to them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-06-14
Packaged: 2018-09-15 17:32:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9248435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atalto/pseuds/Atalto
Summary: After a brief return to Earth, Shiro was happy to get away from the ghosts that followed him there, happy to return to space with his makeshift family.But after they receive a distress signal from the Big Hero 6, they're forced to return, and Shiro is forced to face the demons he thought died long ago.Everything he knew was a lie, and now he was falling off life's cliff with no way of slowing.(Updates will be slow because guess which idiot didn't plan before writing this)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again!
> 
> This is a sequel to one of my other fics, so you may need to read that to understand what's going on.
> 
> I will finish this one, I promise! I'm rather passionate about this crossover now.
> 
> Enjoy!

_19:36_  
_Several days before the SFIT Expo_

The chicken was in the oven, the table laid for one, a single placemat set in a lonely dining room. Half the house was in darkness that night. It was eerily silent, but it was a silence that Robert had grown used to, as he poured himself a glass of red wine and pretended he was completely unaffected by the atmosphere.

"Having a night to yourself, _Professor_?"

Red wine splashed on the countertop.  
"You know me, always the lover of good food." There was a tremble in Robert's voice; hard to hear under his attempts to remain cool and collected, but it still remained.  
He hoped the other couldn't sense fear.  
"Why are you here anyway? I though we weren't meeting again until the 'big day'" He chuckled slightly, a small joke to lighten the air that had no effect.

The other clicked his tongue, posture tensing from his position in the shadows. "I came to finalise the terms of our, ah, _arrangement_." His voice was smooth as silk yet with dark, other-worldly, dangerous undertones. "I heard you were having second thoughts."  
"You'll help me get Abigail back if I give you the boy?" Robert asked cautiously, turning his back on his guest to hide the tremble in his hands.

"That was what we agreed." The other stepped out the shadows as subtly as he appeared, floor creaking under his weight.

"Are you sure it's specifically him you want? His- his brother is just as good, if not better. He's younger, fitter, probably more-"  
The heat at Robert's back intensified; the other was right behind him now, somehow moving through the air noiselessly.  
"I know you wish to protect the boy Professor, but it's him that the Empire requires, and simply no other will do." Now he was directly next to Robert's head, whispering conspiratorially in his ear.  
"You do want your daughter back, don't you, Robert Callaghan?"

A glass smashed onto the counter. Red wine trickled sluggishly down between the tiles, blood on an abandoned dance floor.

"He has the mind and the strength that the Emperor desires, and will rise to greatness with a select few as a champion of our people." A clawed, animal hand was wrapped uncomfortably around his wrist. "You will get what you want, Professor, and will be remembered as a great aid once the universe is ours."

A beat. Uncomfortable silence.

"Isn't this what Abigail would have wanted?"  
Robert's free hand slammed into the counter, glass pressing into his palm. Hissing in pain, he registered the other stepping back. In the silence of the kitchen, his smirk was almost audible.  
"I trust those second thoughts are gone now, hmm?"

"Of course, Sendak."

Now, this was personal. The alien was no longer smiling, and that gave Robert a sick, twisted sense of fulfilment.

"When will I know he's ready to be collected?" All the pseudo-sweetness in his voice was nonexistent now, replaced by an authority that made Robert almost regret speaking up.  
"There's a science convention next week, he will be there." Sendak's raised eyebrow told him he wasn't convinced.  
"I can make it look like an accident, a fire. They'll never find a body." Robert was starting to sound desperate, and pain in his hand was starting to beat the adrenaline that came from arranging deals with an alien who's smirk has suddenly reappeared whilst he was rambling. Wide-eyed, he looked up from cradling his bloodied hand to see the alien chuckling quietly.  
"A fire, eh? How ironic." Robert didn't bother to ask how, nor did he want to after glimpsing the look in Sendak's eye; it was the closest he had ever seen to pure evil.

"Now you're thinking like a Galran. I'm almost proud!" The alien growled maliciously, smirk broadening to a sharp-toothed grin.  
"I'll see you soon then, Professor Callaghan."

And with that, he was gone. Almost immediately the shadows in the room evened out, jagged lines smoothing out into warm blurs and smooth darkness. Silence fell across the house once more, and glass fractals glittered in the soft light that remained. Feeling a wave of selfish relief wash over him, Robert sunk to the floor and let his knees soak up the wine that puddled there; a chocked sob escaped his throat as he knelt, cradling his hand to his chest. Tadashi was a good kid, had the potential to be a great man. But for Abigail?

Robert would do anything.

The chicken remained forgotten, and the table had never been lonelier.

_____________

 

After the explosion, after a broken teenager had watched his brother run to his death, after the screams stopped and the fire engines were quiet, Robert felt a strange sense of numbness. The transmitter had saved them both, only for Tadashi Hamada's unconscious body to be escorted onto an alien ship. Abigail was nowhere to be seen, Sendak was leaving with his ship, and his only company was the white noise of the charred science park.

"Sendak!" He called once the Galran had finished ordering his lackeys onto the ship. "I've done my end of the bargain. When will you do yours?"  
Yellow eye glowing in the darkness, Sendak smirked and walked over confidently.  
"We'll be in touch, Professor." He said smoothly. "Emperor Zarkon will be most pleased, your payment won't be forgotten." He turned swiftly towards the ship's hatch and entered without a final word. With a whir, the engines roared into life, lifting the ship into the air and almost knocking Robert off his feet with the force of it; a soft purple glow was projected onto the scorched earth, brightening and dimming with each pulse of power. Within seconds, it had disappeared into the night, along with Tadashi Hamada and the last sense of Robert's humanity. In those last seconds, he felt for Hiro, who had had his last remaining family forcibly ripped away from him. He felt for Cassandra, who had sworn to protect the boy and had failed. He felt for Takashi, who would return from space to find the man he loved dead.

And then he felt nothing.

And he hasn't felt anything since.

"Fuck you, Sendak."

__________

 

_The present day, somewhere in space._

"I think he's ready, my lord." A withered, aged voice crackled from behind a glass pane, no fear in the presence of their emperor.  
In the observation room, they could only see a mass of fire. Tongues of flame licked at the walls, the floor, the ceiling, only to retract completely then explode outwards again. In the moments of calm, a human was writhing in agony. His screams were barely audible though the glass, but the contortions of pain on his face were clear for all to see.

After one such outburst of heat, he collapsed into the floor, knees buckling beneath him and arms unable to hold him up.

A chuckle. "What do you say to that, Champion? Ready to do your duty to the Galra Empire?"

A speaker crackled into life and heavy breathing flooded the observation room.

"Vrepit Sa."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, Hmu at my tumblr (atalto.tumblr.com) if you have any questions :)
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated!


	2. 1 - The Call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For someone who physically cannot write action based scenes, this is one hell of an action-based plot.  
> I apologise for the bad fight scenes, they're only going to get worse from here on out.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Somewhere in space, present day_

"Watch out Shiro, on your left!"

A blade whistled along his side as he slid rapidly to the right, millimetres away from his armour. In retaliation, Shiro slammed his Galra hand into the gladiator and sent it flying across the small room, only for Pidge to slam her Bayard into the small of its back. As it staggered forwards, Hunk gave a single blast of his gun that smashed the robot into the far wall; its lights flickered once, twice, and then not at all, the team's victory signalled by the robot slumping lifeless against the wall.

" _Bzzt! Training complete!_ " A small robotic voice echoed around the training room and, with a hiss, the doors slid open. Once the light had adjusted, Allura was visible in the doorway, and every Paladin visibly relaxed.

"Good work today Paladins!" She cheered, smile on her face wider than usual. "At this rate, you'll be taking on the training that Altean teenagers face soon!"  
"What?" Pidge squawked as she slipped from her position leaning on Lance's shoulder. "That wasn't even a teenagers level?"  
Next to her, Lance was panting quietly as well. "Man, Altean teenagers must have been ripped."  
That gained a laugh from the group, even Keith chucking under his breath.  
"This is when Coran tells us that Alteans fight a giant, eyeball-eating dung beetle when they come of age!" Hunk joked, arms flying around his head to form pincers in the air.

"Of course, they have to eat eyeballs."  
"Now, now Keith, they could be blue as well."  
"Knock it off Shiro, I bet they're purple with yellow spots!"  
"Lance, I thought of them, and I say they're cream!"

That's when an alarm started blaring.

* * *

 

_San Fransokyo, 16:30_

"Look out Hiro, watch your right!"

A surge of fire licked the air where Baymax once flew, the duo dodging the hit barely. To their right, Honey Lemon was tapping away madly at her purse whilst Wasabi jumped and leaped to avoid the fire, trying to see a chance to attack. To their left, Gogo was attempting to fight with only one disk after one had become a melted pile of metal on the floor, whilst Fred baited the heat with his 'super jump'.

This fight was a mess.

When a purple pod slammed into earth just over an hour ago, they didn't suspect that a ferocious, self-combusting, literally unbeatable monster to arrive out of it.

"Uh, Gogo? Fred? Anybody have any ideas?" Wasabi cried, a barely missed shot singeing his wave of dreadlocks.  
"Nope, I'm fresh out!" An out of breath Fred replied. "Isn't Hiro the one with superhero friends?"

"I believe that he is referring to Takashi, Hiro." Baymax's calmness was out of place in the situation. "If I connect to the radio tower, I might be able to project a distress message."

"It could work." Gogo stated, using her disks to deflect a shot away from Honey.  
"I'm working on a quick-freezing compound, could that buy you some time?" Honey suggested, sliding behind a street lamp after catapulting Gogo back across the circle to slash the monsters head. A quick thumbs-up confirmed she was okay, but her attack seemed to have little effect.

"Alright Baymax, fire up your recording system."

Wasabi screamed as the fire shot out towards his face again.

"This is the Big Hero 6, requesting backup..."

* * *

 

_Somewhere in space_

The bleeping was still going strong when the Paladins entered the control room, and they were greeted by a very flustered Coran; he was tapping madly at a screen, a worried frown creeping across his brow.  
"Coran, what's the problem?" Allura demanded, taking her place at the controls of the ship.  
Coran replied with a cry. "We're receiving a distress signal, but the line is weak and is proving hard to get!" In front of them was a large screen of static, sometimes breaking out into a humanoid figure or the whine morphing into scrambled words.  
It was only when Pidge went over to help that the humanoid figure turned into a purple-clad teenager, with a terrified expression and his gasps for breath audible.

_Was that...?_

"Hiro?" Shiro questioned softly, but he was cut off before anyone could answer him.

 _"This is the Big Hero 6, requesting backup to the downtown area of San Fransokyo! We're taking a lotta' hits from this- Shit!"_ There was a flash of movement on screen; a yellow streak rushed by, followed by a scream and a tunnel of fire. Calls from concerned teammates were garbled over the bad connection.  
_"This, this thing landed from space just over an hour ago, and we - fuck - we can't seem to get a hit on it. Please, if anybody is listening, send backup to-"_

The screen broke out into static again.

"Pidge, can't you hold the channel?" Keith questioned frantically. Pidge grumbled and tapped away at the keyboard again.  
"We've lost it, but I think I might have got some coordinates from the transmission." She paused and looked up. "I think, anyway."

The team was obviously unsettled by this, Lance subconsciously slipping his hand into Keith's whilst Hunk began to pace around the control room. If it was one thing they were never going to get used to, it was the realisation that people _needed_ them, even relied on them for protection or survival. The lives of these heroes hinged on their actions, and that was sobering in ways Shiro didn't expect teenagers to experience. For all intents and purposes, Pidge was still a child, yet here she was being called upon to save the lives of millions of people. It almost wasn't fair.

"Shiro?" Keith's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "What do we do?"  
His reply was instantaneous. "We help them. We're Paladins of Voltron, it's our job." Straightening his back, he turned to face his team. "Is everyone with me?"

Each person nodded, now seemingly filled with a new enthusiasm. Behind him, Allura had taken her position at the helm, with Coran now starting to plot a new route.

"Alright Paladins, get to your lions. Coran, set a route for Earth and we'll get there as fast as possible." Allura instructed, a new confidence in her voice.

Outside, Stars became lines of light as they entered a hyperspace jump, and Earth didn't really feel that far away at all.


	3. 2 - Flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long to write, school has been crazy recently.
> 
> Enjoy!

The trip back to Earth felt like centuries.

From the hangers, it was hard to tell they were even moving; the only signal the ship was still in a hyperjump was the rumbles that shook the floor and an offsetting feeling in the back of Shiro's mind. There was something about the call that sent chills down his spine. Not so much Hiro's desperation, strong enough to be felt over the broken call, but rather the screaming that ripped and jumped behind him. In the short while he'd known of the Big Hero 6, he'd guessed they were strong, each with a skill and a strength unique to them that, when joined as team, was pretty much unstoppable.

And yet, there they were, getting their asses handed to them on a silver platter. That thing, whatever it was, was strong.

That scared him.

If the Big Hero 6 weren't able to take it on, what's to say the Voltron Force could? If they did end up defeating it, at what cost? They weren't going to be fighting in space anymore, with nothing to destroy for light years except the opponent and an asteroid or two. This could result in, if they mess up badly, an entire city ruined. And if this was a trap? The Galra knew of their connection to Earth, his most of all. Maybe this was them luring the team to their final battle?

A soft purring broke him out of his thoughts, and Shiro looked around to find the cockpit of the black lion glowing softly under his hands. A feeling encompassed his mind like a hug as a he slowly released a breath he didn't realise he was holding.  
"Sorry, I didn't notice you were here." He whispered softly with a smile, laying his hand on the mechanical panels in front of him. In response the purring intensified, the lion replacing the worry in his mind with an urging pride. They were going to do their job, damnit, and they were going to do it well.

A screen flashed to life in front of him, filled with the faces of the four other Paladins.  
"We're close to Earth's atmosphere, Paladins!" Allura's voice crackled in his ear. "Are you ready?"

The responding cheer was definitely ready.

* * *

 

The flight down to Earth was weird.

It was too quiet, for one. Shiro was used to Lance's hasty bets and Keith's equally hasty replies, only for Pidge to comment on how the two should bugger off to one of their rooms on the castle ship. Right now, there was silence. If it weren't for the strong determination shared throughout their mental link, Shiro doubted he would have known they were there.

A bleeping suddenly grabbed his attention.

 _"Shiro, watch out!"_  
He barely had time to register Hunk's voice in his earpiece before the black lion jolted off course. More alarms echoed around the cockpit; damage had been taken to the right flank, and whatever that hit him was now in the air with them.

He turned the controls harshly to the right, turning his lion around to face their opponent. Glowing purple misted the edge of his vision, the lion readying its laser whilst adrenaline-fuelled thoughts began drawing up tactics and attack plans. The lion span into place, jaw open, quintessenance redirecting to the laser and-

He was greeted by empty space.

_"Keith, don't be an asshole!"  
"Fuck off Lance, I know what I'm doing!"_

_"Guys, just- just think about this for a second."_ Hunk broke through over the comms, but a flash of red shot across the viewing screens before he had chance to finish his idea.

Shiro was confused. Something has smashed into his lion and flown off again in the second it took him to turn around, and now Keith had flown off in hot pursuit.  
"Pidge? What just happened?" He questioned over the argument between the red, blue and yellow Paladins.

 _"Something just flew up from Earth, attacked your lion, and exited the atmosphere before any of us had chance to see what it was."_ Pidge explained, the quiet bleeping of holo-keyboards barely audible over comms _. "Lance is mad because Keith has decided to follow it and he's horribly protective but won't admit it."_

Shiro sighed deeply; he understood Keith meant well, but sometimes he wished the red Paladin would check in with his ideas sometimes. "Let's carry on down." He finally said, agreement washing over their team link. Blue shot past him quickly - Lance always did get jittery when people didn't listen to him - and the other lions followed in hot pursuit.

* * *

 

They reached the coordinates minutes later, lions touching down on a large plateau just outside the city.

What greeted them was carnage.

They had to go by foot to the given location, but Shiro hardly needed the map on his visor to track the damage to the centre of the fight. Scorch marks littered the earth, slash marks and the overbearing scent of chemical residue accompanying the burns. As they walked, the damage increased, to the point where everything was blackened and sooty.

"Are you guys the space rangers? Awesome!" A voice suddenly shouted in awe from his right, followed by what appeared to be a three-eyed kaiju-esque monster. Shiro stepped back, a rush of energy lighting up his galra arm. A soft humming behind him said Hunk and Lance had activated their Bayards as well.

The monster waved its claws in the air. "Wait! No! Aw shit, sorry man!" The monster grappled at its brow line, only to pull it open, to reveal a-  
Sweaty, tired looking collage student?  
Shiro slowly deactivated his arm.  
The other man looked sheepish. "I didn't mean to scare you guys like that, Dude." He laughed a bit at his own expense as the other Paladins lowered their weapons. "Are you guys the backup?"

Lance jumped forward at that, hooking his Bayard back around his belt. "We got your call, and now we're here!" He grinned and relaxed his posture, causing Pidge to grumble somewhere behind him. "Where's the monster?"

The man shrugged, turning slightly and beckoning them to follow. Eventually they reached a large paved area; it was completely burnt, with the remnants of a smoking purple pod in the middle of some flattened trees.

Galra tech.

"Shiro, you came!" A younger voice called from the far side of the circle. It was Hiro, still in full purple battle armour and with Baymax dogging his steps.  
With that, his arm flared into life again. "You said you needed backup?" He gestured to the Galra pod. "Where's the robeast?"

Hiro raised an eyebrow, confused. "Robeast?" He questioned, leaning back on his foot, but only to hiss in pain at what Shiro guessed was a serious burn. "The fire thing came and went, you just missed him. So, thanks for that."  
"That must have been what attacked your lion, it matches up." Pidge offered, playing back a blurred video clip on her data pad whilst Hunk wondered over to a group of young adults leant exhausted against a brick wall, packs full of antiseptic and bandages.  
A red robot ambled past.  
"Hey, Baymax, you okay?" Hiro asked, running to catch up with the health bot, who was now standing in the centre of the square.

A robotic voice broke through the silence.

"Tadashi. That was Tadashi."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this was okay for ya, half term is next week so I'll have more time on my hands soon :D
> 
> Kudos and comments are always appreciated


	4. 3 - the explanation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hideously sorry about the long updates, school is being a bitch and my motivation dropped to an all time low, but hopefully this is worth it!! Thank you for hanging with me!!
> 
> Enjoy!

Keith was in deep space before the monster finally left the fringes of the Red Lion's scanning system. It was speedy, no fucking doubt, and had led him through several asteroid paths that had scratched and ripped at the Lion's shields. Despite Red's speed, it still managed to evade them; it zipped off into a nebula of purples and greens, and Keith was forced to concede defeat.

It took a while for the Lion to stop in dead space, thrusters fighting the zero gravity to bring them to a standstill. The nebula glowed and pulsated in front of them, radio waves scrambling over the comms and purple ships zooming through stationary asteroids-

Purple ships?

Keith froze. At the back of his mind, Red bristled in anguish. This was a Galra stronghold.

 _"-ber -our? Number four, can you hear me?"_ It was hard to hear over the static and intercepted Galra transmissions, but Coran's voice crackled through the cockpit. Keith mumbled an affirmative.

 _"Ah, fantastic!"_ The relief was clear in Coran's voice. _"Now, Keith, our scanners are picking up a strong Galra presence pretty close to you, and you're in no position to take them on your own!"_

Keith edged the lion forwards slowly. If he could just get a bit closer...

_"You need to get out of there as soon as possible!"_

Ships zipped past the asteroid where they were hidden, back in the direction of Earth, followed by a cruiser ship that shook the empty space around it. The Lion buckled.

Keith grunted and pushed backwards on the control sticks, making the lion do a full turn back from where they came. A Galra stronghold this close to Earth was dangerous, and it confirmed Keith's fear that the fire monster was a Galra creation. If they'd attacked once, what was to stop them attacking again? A quick test of the comms said the others were out of range. He had to get the message back fast.

"Coran? Are you still there?" He asked cautiously.  
_"Loud and clear, Keith."_  
"I can't get in contact with the others. They're in danger."

* * *

 

It was GoGo that broke through the stunned silence first, gingerly stepping towards Baymax. "What the _fuck_?"  
The robot turned slowly. "Whilst fighting, I scanned the enemy to understand what we were against." It explained in a monotone. "The bio-signs that I received matched Tadashi's bio-signs that are stored in my memory."

The two groups were now circled around Baymax, watching on in confusion and shock as Hiro ran forwards and ripped Baymax's chest plate away from his armour; it landed with a thud on the charred grass, red standing out against the green and black of the field. On the stark white of its vinyl cover, a small projection was visible of two human outlines positioned side by side, words and diagrams flying around outside. A silent video began playing in one corner, and when the two were compared, there wasn't much question.

The fire monster shared height, near identical body mass and organic structure with Tadashi, neon lines showing the theoretical outlines of limbs and features. When layered, they were almost a perfect match.  
"That was Tadashi." Baymax repeated.

As if repeating it made it more understandable.

Shiro felt a pang of disparity in his chest. Any hope he had for Tadashi maybe, just maybe being alive was quickly dashed by the realisation that that was a Galra creation. However, sadness was quickly replaced by guilt. Was it because of his connection to Earth that he'd been taken? Was this a personal attack?

A soft sobbing drew him back into reality. Hiro had sunk to the floor, helmet lying solemnly on the grass. In the space between Baymax's revelation and now, the teenager had began to cry, soft red tear tracks discolouring his face. The group had retracted inwards, now surrounding him; Honey Lemon had him in her arms whilst Wasabi had a careful arm around his shoulders. Clawed hands covered his head as Fred - with a varying degree of success - tried to comfort Hiro despite the Kaiju suit.

GoGo just stood close behind, face screaming murder.

It was a sobering sight, causing even the Paladins to join the small group in front. Shiro took a step forwards too, attracting the attention of Lance. Next thing he knew, the blue paladin had looped an arm over his shoulders, reassuring smile on his face. In return, Shiro gave a small smile and turned back to the huddle, which was now moving.

"Guys, I-" Hiro's voice was small from the inside of the pile, cracking noticeably. There was a flurry of limbs and eventually he was stood up, head hung low. "I- I- I need to-"

He turned and ran.

"Hiro, damnit, wait!" GoGo shouted after him, moving to run until Honey Lemon grabbed her arm gently.  
"Let him be GoGo, he needs time." She said in a near whisper. Signing, GoGo nodded jerkily.

There was a period of silence after that, GoGo and Honey Lemon watching in Hiro's direction. A pensive atmosphere had settled on the small group, the only thing keeping Shiro grounded was Lance's hand now rubbing small circles through the soft shoulder guards of his armour.

It was Pidge who eventually broke the silence.  
"So, who was- is, sorry - this Tadashi guy?"

GoGo chuckled dryly. "Sit down kid, we'll tell you."

* * *

 

They ended up in a dingy cafe not far from the battle scene, one that seemed to be a regular haunt by how Fred asked for their 'usual table. Oh, and some extra chairs' in perfect Japanese.  
Their 'usual' was apparently a large round table in an alcove at the back of the cafe, away from the flickering strip lights and the rumble of the centuries old coffee machine. It was cosy in a weird way, vinyl seats squeaking with each movement and coffee cups shaking on the uneven table.

Gogo wasted no time getting to the point. "Tadashi was a great man, he was the guy that built Baymax." She explained in a somewhat hushed voice. "He was our best friend, and Hiro's brother and only remaining family member." She took a long sip of her mocha, noticing the Paladins concerned expressions. "You can understand why he'd be upset."

Shiro watched as he saw Pidge's face become downcast. This situation was suddenly hitting very close to home.

Wasabi took over telling the story. "He was supposed to be dead. I mean, he was blown up! There's no way he could possibly survived!" He gestured wildly with his arms, nearly knocking over the mugs in the process.  
"There was a fire in a large expo hall not far from here, Tadashi was still inside when the building exploded." Honey added, noticing the confusion on Lance's face. "We never found a body, but I don't think anyone expected to find one." She sighed slowly, looking down onto the table whilst letting GoGo slide an arm around her.

"Wait, so, how did you know him Shiro?" Lance asked quietly. This raised quizzical gases from the other members of the table.

Shiro hesitated before draining the dregs of coffee from his mug. "We grew up together." He eventually said, setting the mug back on the table. "Our parents moved here together from Japan, so I knew him from birth. We did everything together until I left for the Garrison when I was sixteen." Memories of summer rendezvous in wide open fields, hours long Skype conversations, and _that_ final meeting in a quiet hallway flashed unbidden before his eyes.

He stopped, gripping his bottom lip between his teeth in anguish. He's only just come to accept Tadashi being gone, but now having to accept him being a brainwashed Galra weapon?

It almost wasn't worth thinking about.

Small circles could be felt on his shoulder again; it was times like this he was thankful for Lance's emotional understanding.

Feed chuckled awkwardly. "Well look guys, another chapter in our superhero story!" He mimed a large monster, making high pitched sound effects. "The Big Hero 6 against the evil space empire! Will they save their friend?" He asked in mock surprise.

"Don't joke." Pidge shot him down sternly without tearing her eyes away from a holoscreen that had popped up from her wrist projector. "That pod was Galra tech."  
She looked up at Shiro, somewhat sadly. "There's no way the Galra aren't involved here."

"Who are the 'Galra' and what do they want with Tadashi?" Wasabi near-screeched, now straight-backed and with a deadly expression gracing his face.

"The Galra are a horrific race that currently rule over half the known universe." Hunk piped up. "They've taken to enslaving any aliens they come across, and destroying those that didn't help."  
The Balmera went unsaid, but his thoughts of the treatment of Shay and the Balmerans were viewable on his face.

A soft buzzing suddenly resonated around the small alcove. "Princess?" Hunk inquired, pulling his helmet on his head and heading towards the exit. "Coran wants me to check the pod machinery, so I'm just gonna' go check that out while it's still quiet out." He grinned and gave a quick thumbs-up.

"Hunk?"  
He turned on the spot to face Fred and the table.  
"If you see Hiro, will you explain what's going on? We're kinda' worried about the little guy."  
Hunk grinned reassuringly. "Will do, Mr Kaiju!"

And with that he left.

* * *

 

It had been quiet for several hours now, with Hunk showing no signs of returning. Lance had begun to tell some stories of their adventures in space, swapping battle tales with Fred and GoGo, whilst Pidge and Shiro discussed the robotics of Shiro's Galran arm with Wasabi and Honey.

That was when Coran's panicked voice brushed through their comms.

Shiro was the first to react. "Coran? What's wrong?"

On the other end, Coran sounded incredibly rushed; he was out of breath, and the concern in his voice was audible even through the grainy comms.  
_"You need to get to your lions immediately! Keith just reported a large Galra stronghold a little over three vargas away, with a full fleet on it's way towards this system!"_  
Shiro looked up to look at the two remaining Paladins at the table, who looked back with string determination.

"Alright Team, let's do this."  
They nodded, and ran out out the cafe door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are getting interesting now :P
> 
> This is also the longest chapter I've written to date lmao
> 
> EDIT 24/4/17: unfortunately I'm sticking this on hiatus for a bit. Definitely not indefinite, but just until my exams are over and done with and I'm not too stressed out (so probably late June lmao)  
> I am however taking part in shance fluff week, so if you're actually here for my writing then look out for that early June lmao
> 
> I'm really sorry about this, thank you all for understanding!


	5. 4 - the flight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god it's been a while my dudes!!!  
> I'm so sorry for leaving this in the balance for so long, life caught up with me recently. It's been exam season coupled with some personal stuff and my first fandom event, so I haven't had much time.  
> Sorry that this is quite short, I was impatient to get something out, but I feel the plots picking up a bit now!
> 
> Enjoy!

Hunk had made a decision: when he got back to the castle, he was asking Coran for Galran equivalent of Rosetta Stone.  
He'd been staring at the lines of code running across the pop-up screen for what felt like hours now, trying to wonder what the hell the blue plug did and why it fitted into the green fuse-that-wasn't-a-fuse. In front of him, the unfamiliar character zipped and swam, almost taunting him about his inability to read what it said. It didn't help that the rest of the pod was ruined, and he was finding it hard to make out the most essential pieces of machinery. The boosters were charred and cracked, and what remained of the engine (or what he thought was the engine) was a mangled mess of grey alien metal and what looked like Balmeran crystal shards. Most of the pod had become molten and reformed, and what hadn't been melted by the Robeast's intense heat was wrecked from the impact with Earth.  
It was a disaster, and it was starting to make Hunk's head hurt.  
Flicking the screen away, he sighed deeply and sat back on his haunches, looking up to the sky as if the clouds would deliver the answer. He needed Pidge here, who actually had some experience in reading Galran code, or Lance and Keith, who both made equally good sounding boards.

Hunk opened his eyes and looked down at the pod again. He was the master engineer on this team, damnit. If he couldn't work this out, no one could.

"You're on the Voltron team, aren't you?" A soft voice spoke up from his right. Hunk whipped his head around to face the speaker, and was created by the purple-clad teenager who he recognised as the one who sent the distress call.  
Seeing the younger boy's tear-tracked face, Hunk smiled softly. "Hiro, right?" A nod told him he was correct. "Yeah, I am!" Hunk said, before letting the smile fall from his face as Hiro flinched back from his slightly raised voice.

Kid gloves, Hunk. Kid gloves.

Chuckling sadly under his breath, Hunk turned back towards the mangled pod in front of him, tilting his head slightly when he saw Hiro awkwardly take a step forwards.

"Coran, one of our, uh, teammates up in the Castle-" he pointed into the sky in the vague direction that he assumed the Castle was, "suggested I take a look at the pod to see if they can get any info about the Galra from the coding."  
Hiro crouched down next to him, gingerly picking up some scraps of metal. "Have you found anything so far?"  
"Nope." A sigh.

A period of silence followed, consisting of Hunk sifting through code and Hiro investigating chunks of metal in the fading sunlight. It was strangely peaceful; after finding what he assumed were co-ordinates and a ship serial number, Hunk felt like he was finally getting somewhere.

"These Galra... things? Do you think they did something to my brother?" Hiro said quietly, as if he wasn't quite expecting an answer.  
Hunk looked up from the screen in thought. "I don't know man, it's possible." He turned towards Hiro with a worried look, "But if they did, we're going to get him, okay?"  
"But even we weren't able to-"  
"Hiro." Hunk cut him off, a slightly sad smile in place. "We'll get him back. We're the Voltron force, it's what we do."

 _"Hunk? Hunk are you there? Do you copy?"_  
There was a flurry of movement. Hunk jammed his helmet on his head as Hiro jumped to his feet. "Shiro? I'm here, what's wrong?"  
_"You need to get to your lion, now. Coran just relayed a message from Keith, a Galran battle fleet is on its way to Earth."_

Panic ran through Hunk, causing his face to fall with worry.

_"Hunk?"_

Panic was replaced by determination.

"I'm on my way Shiro."

As Hunk turned to run back to the lions, he noticed how close the pod could have got to the city. He noticed how Lance had begun to talk over the comms, asking Shiro and Pidge for their plan of action. He noticed how the Yellow lion was stood, almost waiting with apprehension.

He didn't notice that Hiro had followed him the entire way, and as he took off in the direction of the other lions, was hidden behind the cockpit entrance, watching.

* * *

 

"Is everyone present now?"

 _"Present and accounted for!"_  
_"Green's ready to go Shiro!"_  
_"Yep, I'm here."_ There was a clatter over the comms, causing Shiro to wince. _"Sorry."_

This wasn't right. Hunk was distracted, his lack of focus spreading over the bond. This wasn't normal.

"Hunk, is everything okay?" Shiro asked, raising one eyebrow as Hunk grimaced on the video link.  
_"Everything is fine, sorry."_ Hunk apologised again. _"It's just,"_ he sighed deeply, worry-creased forehead just visible under his helmet, _"is anyone else getting a bad feeling about this?"_

Shiro had to admit the feeling wasn't mutual; whilst he shook his head, he noticed Lance and Pidge had done the same.  
" _That sounds like your nerves talking, Hunk."_ Lance supplied with a quiet laugh. " _Every other space battle we've been in has been fine, haven't they?"_

That was a lie, but if it meant reassuring his teammates, Shiro was willing to believe anything.

Eventually Hunk gave a small nod. _"Right. Okay."_ He averted his eyes from the cameras. _"Sorry."_

 _"It's alright Hunk, it happens to the best of us."_ Shiro said with a faint smile _. "Now, are we ready?"_

Three confirmations echoed over the comms as the four lions shot into the atmosphere.

* * *

 

They rejoined with Keith just outside the grips of Earth's atmosphere. Within seconds of reaching him, the Red lion had fallen into formation between black and blue, and the team started in the direction that Coran had given them.

 _"It was like the stronghold you and the princess infiltrated."_ Keith explained other the comms, seriousness of the situation evident in the low tone of his voice and the listening silence he was speaking to. _"Filled with attack fleets."_

Shiro tensed in his seat, a headache beginning to flare behind his eyelids. Over the video, Lance shifted uncomfortably. _"And you said one of these fleets was on its way to Earth?"_

A nod _. "I know it."_

That wasn't good news. At all. They of all people knew the risk an attack at Earth meant; not only the deaths of millions, if not billions of people, but also the loss of their homes, their friends and family. It was selfish, but a part of Shiro's mind screamed that he didn't want Earth to end up like Altea.  
Pidge' face popped up on the screen, green of the cockpit highlighting her frown. _"What's our plan of action then, Shiro?"_

Inhale. Exhale. He could do this.

"We take out this fleet, and then we make our way to the stronghold and do what we can." He instructed, shifting the control sticks into a forward thrust. In the back of his mind, Black roared in agreement. If she was happy with the plan, it couldn't be wrong. On the screens, the rest of the team shared a nod, one of those cliche team things they'd picked up over the years.  
He heard the rumble of jets that shook the cockpit, and slammed the lion forwards.

They didn't have to go far before they came face to face with a wall of purple. The Galran fleet had met them halfway, and at the front of it all was an impossible blaze of flame, so small in comparison to the mass behind it. Shiro felt his heart stop for a millisecond, stretched into hours by shock.  
_"Shiro?"_ That was Keith, hesitant but strong. _"What do we do?"_  
"We fight."  
His heart started beating again and Black's roar took over all thoughts. The control sticks jolted forwards.

Showtime.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with me, y'all the best.  
> In other news, I have a specific voltron sideblog now, so if you want to come and scream VLD at me, my new home is Svendidntdieforthis.tumblr.com
> 
> See you next time, hopefully without such a huge gap between updates

**Author's Note:**

> As always, hmu at my tumblr (Svendidntdieforthis.tumblr.com) if you have any questions/suggestions.
> 
> Kudos and comments are appreciated!


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